by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka has been placed on the disabled list with a sore elbow, the club announced Wednesday.

Additionally, Tanaka left the club and returned to New York for an MRI on his right arm, according to a baseball official with direct knowledge of the exam.

The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the Yankees have not announced the MRI. The New York Post first reported Tanaka left the club for the examination.

Tanaka's injury is the latest for a Yankee rotation that's already lost one pitcher - Ivan Nova - to season-ending Tommy John surgery, and may be without CC Sabathia the rest of the season as well due to a knee injury. Young starter Michael Pineda also is on the disabled list.

"It's not how you draw it up, but injuries are part of the game," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before the club's game Wednesday at Cleveland.

This comes immediately after Tanaka's worst start of the year in which he gave up five earned runs over 6 2/3 inning against the Cleveland Indians. It also comes after Tanaka used a strange phrase - largely dismissed as being somewhat lost in translation, or as Tanaka simply not wanting to give opposing teams unnecessary insight - to explain last night's struggles.

"I do understand the reason why I was struggling today," Tanaka said. "But it's really difficult for me to tell you why that was."

Asked a follow up, Tanaka said that his command was "one of the big reasons."

The Yankees invested $175 million in Tanaka before this season, giving him a seven-year, $155 million contract while also paying a $20 million posting fee to his Japanese club, the Rakuten Golden Eagles.